Hands on: Safari 4 beta fast, mixes polish, rough UI edges — Apple on Tuesday released Safari 4 beta, a new version of its browser for Mac OS X and Windows. This update brings a bunch of new features, including a flashy new Top Sites view, a completely redesigned Windows UI, and support for some impressive emerging Web standards.

Update on Gmail — The Gmail outage that affected many consumers and Google Apps users worldwide is now over. Users should find that they're able to access their email now without any further problems. — Before you can access your Gmail, you may be asked to fill in what's called …

Ballmer: Office 14 not this year — During his annual “Strategic Update” briefing with Wall Street analysts on February 24, CEO Steve Ballmer said Office 14 won't be shipping in 2009. — “Office 14 will not be this year,” Ballmer told analysts. — Microsoft officials have been careful …

Apple launches a new iTunes Pass feature for groupies — Is there an artist you love? I mean really love, as in you'll buy anything they do before you have any idea what it is? A lot of people probably do, and for them, Apple has a new feature on iTunes called “iTunes Pass.”

Reality Sinks in at Online Advertising Confab — Recession Could Lead to Business Failures, Irrational Risks — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — For five years online was advertising's growth business, but 2008 delivered a wake-up call: Online advertising isn't immune to the recession, and it's only just begun.

iPhone App Prices Tanking — Apple (AAPL) is famous for keeping its gadget pricing steady. But the iPhone app store is a much different market: App developers have cut prices significantly in the last few months. And the market for $10 premium apps seems to have evaporated.

Marvell makes ultrasmall wall plug computer — You might have heard or even used one of those Powerline network adapters, such as the one made by Netgear that plug directly into the wall. Now think of a similar device with the exception that it is an entire computer.

VMware's Confederation Of Clouds — Virtualization company aims to unify virtual and external cloud-computing providers. — You could think of it as the “Hey, you, hop on my cloud,” strategy. — Or, for the more earthbound, it's VMware's plan to bring cloud computing to its nascent virtual data-center operating system.

Yahoo Shrs Rally; Ballmer Wants Talks With Bartz — Well, you could have seen this coming. Yahoo (YHOO) shares have ticked higher this morning after Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer told analysts at a meeting in New York that he is still interested in talking to Yahoo chief Carol Bartz about a deal on search.

InstantAction enables 3-D games in web browsers — InstantAction is announcing today the formal launch of its site that lets gamers play 3-D games in a web browser. — The site will have nine games that are available for free at the outset, with a half-dozen more games coming soon.

VeriSign: We will support DNS security in 2011 — Operator of .com, .net vows to adopt standard to prevent hijacking attacks — VeriSign has promised to deploy DNS Security Extensions - known as DNSSEC - across all of its top-level domains within two years.

Steve Jobs is 54 — Tuesday, Feb. 24, is Steve Jobs' birthday. — He turns 54. — To celebrate this very personal milestone, we thought we'd re-post what may be the most personal public speech this intensely private man has ever made: his 2005 commencement address to the Stanford University class of 2005.

Virgin announces new site, Facebook Connect for planes — MIAMI—Virgin used Alex Hunter's presentation at the Future of Web Apps to announce its new Virgin.com website, due to enter closed beta in the next six weeks. The new site will include a lot of social features that allow users …

2018 Top 100 Global Tech Leaders — 21st century technology-sector leadership requires more than financial success. It also requires a commitment to compliance, innovation, and much more. Who are today's leaders?